Will tomorrow’s
Cabinet meeting be the last with Abdullah asking the Yang di Pertuan
Agong for dissolution of Parliament?

This may be the
last day that I am speaking as Parliamentary Opposition Leader for the
11th Parliament if the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
in his audience with the Yang di Pertuan Agong tomorrow before the
weekly Cabinet meeting asks for the dissolution of Parliament – which
would also mean the last Cabinet meeting tomorrow.

This will be most unfortunate for the Prime Minister would be showing
scant respect and sensitivity to Pai Tiang Gong on the ninth day and
Chap Goh Mei on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year – another offense
and insensitivity to the diverse cultures and religions in Malaysia in a
matter of three months after the holding of the UMNO general assembly on
Deepavali last November.

Last Monday, I received a notice from Parliament calling for oral and
written questions for the first meeting of the fourth session of the
11th Parliament, which will be declared open by the Yang di Pertuan
Agong on 17th March 2008, giving MPs the deadline of February 22 to
submit their written and oral questions for the 22-day sitting of
Parliament till April 24, 2008.

It is a waste of public funds, resources and time for Parliament to rush
out parliamentary notice for the March 17-April 24, 2008 to all MPs by
pos laju when it is clear the 11th Parliament will not sit again in
March.

It is also ridiculous to expect MPs to prepare and submit questions by
Feb. 22 for the March 17-April 24, 2008 parliamentary meeting, when
everybody expects a dissolution if not tomorrow at least latest by the
third week of February.

I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to make a
clear-cut public announcement whether Parliament will be dissolved for
general election to be held before March 17, so that MPs, whether
Barisan Nasional or Opposition, need not waste time preparing and
submitting parliamentary questions for a parliamentary meeting that
would not be held.

Something is very wrong with Abdullah’s system of governance if he
cannot make such a simple clarification.

One of the trademarks which Abdullah wants his premiership to be
identified is to transform Malaysia from a “First-World Infrastructure,
Third-World Mentality” to “First-World Infrastructure, First-World
Mentality” nation.

In the past 51 months of his premiership however, Abdullah’s call for
“first-world infrastructure, first-world mentality” had fallen on deaf
ears and had remained at the sloganeering level – as there was no
serious venture to translate it into action with new government
benchmark and a new national ethos.

In my first speech when I returned to Parliament in May 2004, I stressed
that parliamentary reform and modernization is the first critical test
whether there is the political will to transform Malaysia into a
first-world nation, not only in infrastructure, but in mentality,
mindset and culture starting with a First World Parliament.

In the past four years, Parliament has failed on both counts. Over RM100
million was spent to give it a “five-star hotel” glitzy appearance but
it still leaks cats and dogs when there is a heavy downpour – even when
Parliament is meeting!

But in terms of substance in moving towards a First-World Parliament in
the past four years, the report card is a dismal failure.

In my first speech on my return to Parliament on 20th May 2004 during
the debate on the Royal Address, I listed 12 proposals for Malaysia to
have a “First World Parliament” not only in infrastructure, but mindset,
culture, practices and performance, viz:

The 11th
Parliament has failed each of these 12 tests of modernization and reform
because of the utter lack of leadership by the Prime Minister. In fact,
in his four years as Prime Minister, Abdullah has the dubious
distinction of registering the lowest parliamentary attendance for any
Prime Minister in Malaysian parliamentary history despite having the
most number of Ministerial portfolios!

The failure of the 11th Parliament must be rectified in the new 12
Parliament to be elected soon.
It is only by having at least 75 Opposition MPs, which will also deny
the Barisan Nasional its unbroken and suffocating two-thirds
parliamentary majority, that there could be any surety that serious
efforts would be initiated for parliamentary modernization and reform to
usher in a First-World Parliament.

This is another reason why I am calling on the 11 million voters in the
upcoming general election to elect at least 75 Opposition MPs to ensure
that Malaysia has a “First-World Parliament” to give new meaning to
democracy in Malaysia.